Autopsy: Toddler may have drowned

Tests follow death of Wellesley girl

WELLESLEY - Autopsy results released yesterday suggest that a 21-month-old girl who died Friday after she was found unresponsive in her home had drowned.

The Norfolk district attorney's office said the office of the chief medical examiner found no evidence of trauma on the girl, identified by authorities as Finley Clare Morton, and that more tests were being performed to determine the exact cause of death.

Finley was the ninth of 10 children of David and Kerry Morton, whose large family was profiled in the Boston Globe Magazine in May 2006, when they had five girls and three boys between the ages of 6 months and 12 years.

Yesterday at the family's house, David Morton, an equities trader, said he was coping with a "private family tragedy," and declined to comment further.

"It's probably the worst thing that's ever happened to them," said Phil Thorpe, who is married to Kerry Morton's mother, Carol Hogan. "It's a big family and they love every kid. They just love kids."

Emergency personnel found the girl unresponsive after being called to the home shortly before 11 p.m. Friday, according to the prosecutor's office. She was taken to Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

Alison Goodwin, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Children and Families, said there had been an allegation in April that Finley was abused, but said the agency found the complaint to be unsubstantiated.

The death remains under investigation by Wellesley police, State Police, the district attorney's office, and the Department of Children and Families. The district attorney's investigation is standard protocol when a child dies at home.

Bella Wong, superintendent of the Wellesley schools, said grief counselors were made available to students in the middle and elementary schools, where Finley's siblings are students.

"I think it's a tragic loss and we are trying to do our best to support the family," she said.

In the Globe Magazine article, titled "Full House," David and Kerry Morton showed off their large, happy home.

Photographs from the article show the children playing baseball on the lawn, lining up for the school bus in the morning, and laughing together on a sofa in the living room.

The parents said they had to manage their days with the precision of a military drill instructor, and they detailed how they would wake at 6:30 a.m., prepare breakfast, drive children to soccer and softball practice, and shuttle them home in the evening.

On a typical night, dinnertime found David Morton serving beverages to the children while Kerry Morton dished out the meal. Then the parents went into the next room to catch up while the children ate together.

After putting the children to bed in shifts between 8:45 and 10 p.m., both parents dozed in front of the television, and then crawled into bed about 11.

"Nobody gets lost in the shuffle," David Morton said, "but they do have to wait their turn."

The couple said they had wanted a large family. Morton grew up one of six. His wife lost her only siblings to illness.

"The psychology of regeneration has landed us with eight kids," David Morton said in the article. "The other part is we've just enjoyed having kids."

Michael Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com.

Correction: Because of a reporting error, a story in yesterday's Metro section about the death of a 21-month-old girl in Wellesley misstated the nature of a report that was filed in April with the state Department of Children and Families. The report, which the agency determined was unsubstantiated, alleged that the girl had been neglected.